Italy blocked 6 tonnes of drugs in June, Albania's largest number of traffickers

In this amount of narcotics, Italian police classify hashish (a type of drug that is trafficked mainly from chocolate - shaped Morocco), the marijuana (which is mainly trafficked from Albania), as well as the plants of marijuana that are cultivated mainly in some areas in southern Italy, writes VOA.

According to official antidroga data, recently published for June, out of 6 tons of quasi-cuested cannabis all about 5.2 tons were marijuana, about 700 kilograms of hash, and about 37 thousand were extinct narcotic plants inside Italian territory. Italian police said that during June alone this year, they arrested 1,604 persons in 1705 operations, of which 798 foreigners, most of whom from Albania.

This year's data points to a significant increase in cannabis traffic compared to the same period a year ago. Thus, in June 2016, only 1.3 tons of Cannabis had been blocked, from which only 225 pounds [382 kg] was marijuana. Police had arrested 1,370 people in June 2016 in 1,351 operations.

Meanwhile, the latest data from Italian antidroga speaks of a significant rise in heroin trafficking compared to a year ago. According to official data in June 2017, 44kg of heroin blocked by June 2016.

Albanian-Albanian co-operation against narcotics increased
Albanian and Italian police have recently stepped up bilateral co-operation to curb trade-offs in maritime space and the cultivation of marijuana. A “Guardia Di Financa” Italian has recently conducted over 16 flights, identifying 62 parcels with several thousand narcotic plants in different regions of Albania.

Albanian police said that only for the period from January to July, about 60 tonnes of marijuana was seized and destroyed over 50,000 marijuana plants planted in several counties in the country. Authorities have also increased penalties for administration officials in areas where narcotics - cultivated shelters are found.

Police said they have prosecuted 88 authors (administrators of administrative units, chiefple and forest service inspectors) for criminal acts “Disuse of duty” and “Abnegation of crime”, of which 13 were arrested and 72 followed in a free state, while 3 are on the run.